Every time the president makes a public appearance ... it gives us insight into what he thinks are the most important issues at that time.

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., is assistant professor of communication and affiliate assistant professor of African and African-American history at Loyola University Maryland. Harriet Tubman's great great-grandniece, Judith G. Bryant, released her open letter to Russell Simmons on her website at http://loyola.academia.edu/KayeWiseWhitehead. Whitehead can be reached at kewhitehead@loyola.edu.

By Karsonya Wise Whitehead

In 2006, when Barack Obama first ran for president, I was an enthusiastic supporter. I campaigned for him, spoke at community centers, visited homes and used the very tiny platform that I had to sing his praises. Even though I had started the year as a Hillary Clinton supporter, I was captivated (as were many others) and hopeful that the election of a black man was going to be the answer to Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.

Unlike my grandmother who thought he was some type of a Messiah, I did not believe that he could walk on water, heal the sick, end racism or reduce the national debt by any significant amount. At the same time, I did believe his rhetoric and I thought that change would come. I believed that he was going to be a compassionate leader who would do everything he could to remind us that we are all in this struggle -- to make our world a better place -- together.

At that time, when I voted for him, I was not just voting for myself. I was voting for all of my ancestors who never saw the end of the American enslaved system and who died before Brown v. Board of Education was decided. I was voting for my grandfather who died before Obama became the Democratic candidate and for my grandmother who never had a chance to experience the joy that comes from having a black man sitting at the center of the American political system. I was voting, in some ways (and in my mind) to try and right some of the wrongs of the past.

The second time he ran, I was a reluctant supporter. I was unimpressed with his first term and I was no longer moved by his rhetoric. My vote for him was actually a vote against his opponent. I still believed in change but I knew from work during his first term that real change takes a very long time and perhaps, in my lifetime, it may never come.

As I have borne witness to how his second term has unfolded, I have become more and more jaded about the direction of this country, his true intentions, and the deep rooted feelings of racism that have been brought to light since he first took office. Even though I know that one person, no matter how powerful he is, cannot change the world (I remove people like Jesus Christ, Dr. King, and Gandhi from this equation, as one could easily argue that their actions did indeed change the world.), the president does set the tone for our nation. Every time he makes a public appearance, whether it is at an anti-violence rally in Chicago or at a beer tent in Iowa, it gives us insight into what he thinks are the most important issues at that time. When he focuses his attention on something or someone, the world glances at it, as well.

This was why I was so excited when I heard that President Obama might have been planning to visit the home of Harriet Tubman in Auburn. For the past couple of weeks, due in large part to the release of a sex tape video, her life and her legacy have been discussed throughout the country. With all of the confusion and attention, I thought it was appropriate for him to visit her house at this time. He did not have to meet with the family or make a speech but his presence alone would have spoken volumes.

As it stands now, simply because he chose not to visit (after booking a room close to her home and working out a gym across the street), a statement has been made that her life and her legacy are not that important and can and should be ignored. I am unable to get a read on our president and am often surprised and moved by some of the things that he does and does not do.

In this case, I wonder why he chose not to visit and I have spent the last day thinking about it. Perhaps he was concerned about overextending himself; or he felt that those of us who have already spoken up about Harriet Tubman have done an adequate job and his voice was not needed; maybe he ran out of time or his people told him that this was one controversy, coming on the heels of Zimmerman verdict, that he should ignore; maybe he does not feel connected to Harriet Tubman since he does not come from a history of American enslavement or maybe he is fed up with the race issue and feels that other people need to carry the torch; maybe he needed to get back home to tend to his new dog or he had a long-standing basketball game appointment that he didn't want to break; or maybe, and this one is the saddest of all, he really does not realize how important the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman are to the world and how connected she is to his wife and his daughters.

I support our president but in this moment, I summarily reject any excuse he may have about not visiting her home. I would suggest that he take a moment and examine history because if people like Harriet Tubman would not have run away or fought for freedom 150 years ago, then folks like my father could not have marched for freedom 50 years ago, and people like me could not have voted for him five years ago. It is all connected, a very simple circle of life.